BC Bookseller Recommends: Picks of the Season

‘Tis the season of giving, and BC booksellers have their top picks on hand! Ready your wishlists and shop local with these fabulous finds, spanning poetry, fiction, nonfiction and stunning debuts. This is the 2020 BC Bookseller Recommends, featuring dozens of must-buys from authors and publishers all across BC!

The BC book for those who need soothing and escapism:

• Seaweed Miscellany by Miek Zwamborn (Greystone Books) – Iron Dog Books (@irondogbooks)
• Fist of the Spider Woman, edited by Amber Dawn (Arsenal Pulp Press) – Little Sisters Book & Art Emporium (@littlesistersca)
• A Killer in King’s Cove by Iona Whishaw (TouchWood Editions) – Munro’s Books (@munrosbooks)
• The Days by M.A.C. Farrant (Talonbooks) – Upstart & Crow (@upstartandcrow)

The BC book that exceeded or changed your expectations:

• Vancouver Exposed by Eve Lazarus (Arsenal Pulp Press) – Book Warehouse (@blackbondbooks)
• Rebent Sinner by Ivan E. Coyote (Arsenal Pulp Press) – Little Sisters Book & Art Emporium (@littlesistersca)
• Heaviness of Things That Float by Jennifer Manuel (Douglas & McIntyre) – Munro’s Books (@munrosbooks)
• How to Catch a Mole by Marc Hamer (Greystone Books) – Upstart & Crow (@upstartandcrow)

The BC book that’s the most exciting debut of the season:

• it was never going to be okay by jaye simpson (Nightwood Editions) – Iron Dog Books (@irondogbooks)
• This City Is a Minefield by Aaron Chan (Signal8 Press) – Little Sisters Book & Art Emporium (@littlesistersca)
• My Life as a Potter by Mary Fox (Harbour Publishing) – Munro’s Books (@munrosbooks)
• Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi (Arsenal Pulp Press) – Upstart & Crow (@upstartandcrow)

Your favourite BC poetry book of the season:

• The Gospel of Breaking by Jillian Christmas (Arsenal Pulp Press) – Book Warehouse (@blackbondbooks)
• Birding in the Glass Age of Isolation by Curtis Leblanc (Nightwood Editions) – Iron Dog Books (@irondogbooks)
• On/Me by Francine Cunningham (Caitlin Press)– Little Sisters Book & Art Emporium (@littlesistersca)
• Outlasting the Weather by Patrick Friesen (Anvil Press) – Munro’s Books (@munrosbooks)

Your favourite BC non-fiction of the season:

• Four Umbrellas by Jane Hutton and Tony Wanless (Dundurn Press) – Book Warehouse (@blackbondbooks)
• Legacy of Trees by Nina Shoroplova (Heritage House) – Misty River Books (@mistyriverbooks)
• Talking with Bears by G.A. Bradshaw (Rocky Mountain Books) – Misty River Books (@mistyriverbooks)
• Hammer and Nail by Kate Braid (Caitlin Press) – Upstart & Crow (@upstartandcrow)

Your favourite BC fiction of the season:

• Primary Obsessions by Charles Demers (Douglas & McIntyre) – Book Warehouse (@blackbondbooks)
• Love After the End, edited by Joshua Whitehead (Arsenal Pulp Press)– Iron Dog Books (@irondogbooks)
• After Elias by Eddy Boudel Tan (Dundurn Press) – Little Sisters Book & Art Emporium (@littlesistersca)
• Orphans of Empire by Grant Buday (TouchWood Editions) – Munro’s Books (@munrosbooks)

The BC book you return to again and again:

• Don’t Tell Me What to Do by Dina Del Bucchia (Arsenal Pulp Press) – Iron Dog Books (@irondogbooks)
• Vancouver Island Scoundrels, Eccentrics and Originals by Stephen Rutan (TouchWood Editions)– Munro’s Books (@munrosbooks)
• What the Mouth Wants by Monica Meneghetti (Caitlin Press)– Little Sisters Book & Art Emporium (@littlesistersca)
• Stories from the Magic Canoe of Wa’xaid by Cecil Paul, as told by Briony Penn (Rocky Mountain Books) – Upstart & Crow (@upstartandcrow)

Looking for even more evocative and thrilling works? Drop by, call or email your favourite local bookseller and see what they have in store!

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A special thank you to all of the booksellers who offered their time and recommendations for this list, including Book Warehouse, Iron Dog Books, Little Sisters Book & Art Emporium, Misty River Books, Munro’s Books and Upstart & Crow.